Erie to lose GE locomotive manufacturing, almost 600 jobs
By the end of 2018, General Electric's transportation division will end most of the locomotive manufacturing performed at a plant outside Erie that has been operating for more than 100 years, according to Bloomberg .
The Lawrence Park plant will lose about 575 jobs, and the locomotive manufacturing will be shifted to another GE production plant in Fort Worth, Texas.
Bloomberg cites a downturn in the domestic rail market as the reason for the shift.
Jamie Miller, chief executive officer of GE Transportation, told Bloomberg that the Fort Worth plant intends to recall about 225 employees.
The move comes as GE works to fulfill an order to India for 1,000 locomotives, the largest such order in the history of the company, and only two years after the company laid off 1,500 workers at the Erie plant.
After the staff reductions, Lawrence Park will employ about 2,000 people, who will focus on design, engineering and prototyping.
Matthew Medsger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4675, mmedsger@tribweb.com, or on Twitter @matthew_medsger.
